Editing Howard Hawks (section)

=== Silent films (1925–1929) ===
In October 1925, [[Sol Wurtzel]], [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]]'s studio superintendent at the [[20th Century Fox|Fox Film Corporation]], invited Hawks to join his company with the promise of letting him direct. Over the next three years, Hawks directed his first eight films (six silent, two "[[sound films|talkies]]").{{sfn|Wakeman|1987|pp=446–451}} Hawks reworked the scripts of most of the films he directed without always taking official credit for his work. He also worked on the scripts for ''Honesty – The Best Policy'' in 1926{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=71–74}} and [[Joseph von Sternberg]]'s ''[[Underworld (1927 film)|Underworld]]'' in 1927, famous for being one of the first [[gangster film]]s.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|p=76}} Hawks's first film was ''The Road to Glory'', which premiered in April 1926. The screenplay was based on a 35-page composition written by Hawks, making it one of the only films on which Hawks had extensive writing credit. Today, it is one of Hawks's two [[lost films]].{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=65–68}} [[File:Fig-leaves-1926.jpg|thumb|Poster for the comedy ''Fig Leaves'' (1926), one of the few early films Hawks valued positively later in his life.]] Immediately after completing ''The Road to Glory'', Hawks began writing his next film, ''[[Fig Leaves]]'', his first (and, until 1935, only) comedy. It received positive reviews, particularly for the art direction and costume designs. It was released in July 1926 and was Hawks's first hit as a director. Although he mainly dismissed his early work, Hawks praised this film in later interviews.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=69–71}}

''[[Paid to Love]]'' is notable in Hawks's filmography, because it was a highly stylized, experimental film, à la German director [[F. W. Murnau]]. Hawks's film includes atypical tracking shots, expressionistic lighting and stylistic film editing that was inspired by [[German expressionist cinema]]. In a later interview, Hawks commented, "It isn't my type of stuff, at least I got it over in a hurry. You know the idea of wanting the camera to do those things: Now the camera's somebody's eyes." Hawks worked on the script with [[Seton I. Miller]], with whom he would go on to collaborate on seven more films. The film stars [[George O'Brien (actor)|George O'Brien]] as the introverted Crown Prince Michael, [[William Powell]] as his happy-go-lucky brother and [[Virginia Valli]] as Michael's [[flapper]] love interest, Dolores. The characters played by Valli and O'Brien anticipate those found in later films by Hawks: a sexually aggressive showgirl, who is an early prototype of the "[[Hawksian woman]]", and a shy man disinterested in sex, found in later roles played by [[Cary Grant]] and [[Gary Cooper]]. ''Paid to Love'' was completed by September 1926, but remained unreleased until July 1927. It was financially unsuccessful.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=72–75}} ''[[Cradle Snatchers]]'' was based on a 1925 hit stage play by Russell G. Medcraft and Norma Mitchell. The film was shot in early 1927. The film was released in May 1927 and was a minor hit. It was believed to be lost until [[Peter Bogdanovich]] discovered a print in 20th Century Fox's film vaults, although it was missing part of reel three and all of reel four.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=76–78}} In March 1927, Hawks signed a new one-year, three-picture contract with Fox and was assigned to direct ''[[Fazil (film)|Fazil]]'', based on the play ''L'Insoumise'' by [[Pierre Frondaie]]. Hawks again worked with Seton Miller on the script. Hawks was over schedule and over budget on the film, which began a rift between him and Sol Wurtzel that would eventually lead to Hawks leaving Fox. The film was finished in August 1927, though it was not released until June 1928.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=84–86}}

[[File:A Girl in Every Port poster.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''A Girl in Every Port'' poster]]
''[[A Girl in Every Port (1928 film)|A Girl in Every Port]]'' is considered by scholars to be the most important of Hawks's silent films. It is the first to feature many of the themes and archetypes that would define much of his subsequent work. It was his first "love story between two men", with two men bonding over their duty, skills and careers, who consider their friendship to be more important than their relationships with women.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=86–91}} In France, [[Henri Langlois]] called Hawks "the [[Walter Gropius|Gropius]] of the cinema" and Swiss novelist and poet [[Blaise Cendrars]] said that the film "definitely marked the first appearance of contemporary cinema."{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|p=92}} Hawks went over budget once again with this film, and his relationship with Sol Wurtzel deteriorated. After an advance screening that received positive reviews, Wurtzel told Hawks, "This is the worst picture Fox has made in years."{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|p=91}} After seeing [[Louise Brooks]] in ''A Girl in Every Port'', [[G. W. Pabst]] cast her in [[Pandora's Box (1929 film)|''Pandora's Box'']] (1929).<ref name=:"Thomson">{{cite book| last=Thomson| first=David| author-link=David Thomson (film critic) | title=[[The New Biographical Dictionary of Film]]| year=2010| pages=426–428}}</ref> ''[[The Air Circus]]'' was Hawks's first film centered around [[aviation]], one of his early passions. In 1928, [[Charles Lindbergh]] was the world's most famous person and ''[[Wings (1927 film)|Wings]]'' was one of the most popular films of the year. Wanting to capitalize on the country's aviation craze, Fox immediately bought Hawks's original story for ''The Air Circus'', a variation of the theme of male friendship about two young pilots. The film was shot from April to June 1928, but Fox ordered an additional 15 minutes of dialogue footage so that the film could compete with the new talkies being released. Hawks hated the new dialogue written by [[Hugh Herbert]], and he refused to participate in the re-shoots. It was released in September 1928 and was a moderate hit and is one of two Hawks films that are lost.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=92–94}}

''[[Trent's Last Case (1929 film)|Trent's Last Case]]'' is an adaptation of [[E. C. Bentley]]'s [[Trent's Last Case (novel)|1913 novel of the same name]]. Hawks considered the novel to be "one of the greatest detective stories of all time" and was eager to make it his first sound film. He cast [[Raymond Griffith]] in the lead role of Phillip Trent. Griffith's throat had been damaged by poison gas during World War I, and his voice was a hoarse whisper, prompting Hawks to later state, "I thought he ought to be great in talking pictures ''because'' of that voice." However, after shooting only a few scenes, Fox shut Hawks down and ordered him to make a silent film, both because of Griffith's voice and because they only owned the legal rights to make a silent film. The film did have a musical score and synchronized sound effects but no dialogue. Due to the failing business of silent films, it was never released in the US and only briefly screened in England where critics hated it. The film was believed lost until the mid-1970s and was screened for the first time in the US at a Hawks retrospective in 1974. Hawks was in attendance of the screening and attempted to have the only print of the film destroyed.{{sfn|McCarthy|1997|pp=97–101}} Hawks's contract with Fox ended in May 1929, and he never again signed a long-term contract with a major studio. He managed to remain an independent producer-director for the rest of his long career.{{sfn|Wakeman|1987|pp=44–45}}
[[File:Howard Hawks Hearts In Exile.jpg|thumb|Howard Hawks in 1929 or 1930]]